Mini confirms 220kW GP Cooper

Mini has announced its most powerful road-going hatch yet.

The car maker has confirmed it will build 3000 units of a range-topping, hard-core Mini John Cooper Works GP, set to be inspired by the wildly-winged concept that was revealed at the 2017 Frankfurt motor show.

Mini has only released three teaser images of the road-going race car, but from what we can tell, it looks very close to the concept revealed in Frankfurt.

And, if it’s anything like that - and its predecessors - expect it to be a manual-only two-seater with a half roll-cage, limited-slip differential and semi-slick tyres.

Set to go on sale next year, the GP gets 50kW more than the Cooper’s range-topping Mini John Cooper Works model, producing 220kW thanks to a re-worked version of Mini’s 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo engine.

Bringing a 50 per cent increase in production over the model’s predecessor (which was limited to 2000 units), Mini says the GP will be ‘the fastest and most powerful Mini ever approved for use on the road’ and ‘anyone who gets the chance to take a seat in one of these exclusive, extremely athletic cars can look forward to pure driving fun and uncompromising race feeling’.

Australian pricing and allocation is yet to be confirmed, but Mini promises a 2020 arrival.